News for Speakers’ Corner, Sunday 19th November

“No man dies for what he knows to be true. Men die for what they want to be true, for what some terror in their hearts tells them is not true.”
Oscar Wilde

1. Christian a capella band Midnight Oil have finished their stint at the Domain, but the barriers are still up. So, again we made use of the big Morton Bay fig and it was another Goldilocks day.

2. Welcome back, Scott! Most of our speakers are grumpy old men, but two years ago young Scott had a crack at speaking for a few weeks. He was original and interesting. Then, unconscionably, he left for China for two years. He appeared again today, looking no more Chinese than when he left. Nor did he speak with a Cantonese accent. We have serious doubts about whether he actually went there.

It is this scribe’s view that in those few minutes of wanton impersonation, Uncle Pete enhanced Mr B’s reputation.

Uncle Pete.

4. The Two Envelope Paradox.
We won’t explain it here, but consider: You have been given $200. You can either:
a) flip a coin. If it’s heads you will double your money. i.e. You gain $200. If it’s tails you halve your money. i.e. You lose $100.
Or
b) don’t flip the coin and just keep the $200.

What’s your answer? (a) or (b)?

If you chose (b) then why not come along to Speakers’ Corner and sit with all the other pea-brains? You’ll have lots of company and make lots of friends. Apart from this scribe, only one person had the brains to choose option (a). Congratulations, Jay!

(Scribe shakes head and thinks: it’s no wonder poor Mr B often takes twenty minutes to give a three minute talk, and still fails to impart his message. It appears that teaching grasshoppers basic arithmetic can be like teaching rocks how to swim.)

I have been too hard on you recently, Mr B. I’m sorry. I didn’t understand what you have been up against.

5. The ‘Workplace GenderEqualityAgency’ has released its report. When you compare a female full-time employee with a male full-time employee, it’s found that on average, men earn $26,000 more. That figure seemed absurd, so we discussed how it may have come about.

6. In a passing comment about forgiveness, the speaker arrogantly declared that there was no god. A grasshopper took him to task. “What authority do you have to make such a claim?” she asked. A discussion ensued and before long, someone suggested that the passer-by get up onto the Ladder of Knowledge and speak.

Mr B refused, explaining that “we would only hear more crap”. That prompted the passer-by to instigate a coup d’état, and she took the Ladder anyway. She did an excellent job of stating her case and answering questions. She isn’t yet a Christian, but she did take umbrage with Mr B’s arrogance. (Then again, don’t we all. If you could sell arrogance, he would be a millionaire.)

In short, Georgia was a good speaker and adept at maintaining her cool, despite the torrent of questions she received. Well done, Georgia!

Georgia.

These are the barriers mentioned earlier. (Georgia is in the foreground obscurng the view.)

7. Other subjects discussed:
– The return of the bones of ‘Lake Mungo Man’.

– Why do so many people like the television programs ‘Yes Minister’ and ‘Utopia’?

– The ‘me too’ movement is outing sexual predators Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and the like. Is it possible that a troll, who happened to be alone with a celebrity for ten minutes any time in the last forty years, might find it amusing to make a false accusation?

– Who is going to hell? Atheist Uncle Pete was smug, knowing he won’t be. He did the “nine-consecutive-day-catechism thing” when he was a lad.

8. Having just read this week’s Speakers’ Corner news, how likely are you to recommend it to your friends and relatives?

0 1 2 3 . . .

Do you feel irritated when given that question? Mr B does, and he had a good whinge about it until a grasshopper explained to him the hidden motive behind the question.